Istvan Peter B'Racz profile picture

Istvan Peter B'Racz

About Me

...A.B.O.U.T...T.H.E...W.O.R.K.S...Y.O.U...H.E.A.R... _________________________________________________________
"DECANTUR"
(Film Music composition, recording, editing, production):
Used at the end of a film called "G-spots": a modern retelling of the "Wife of Bath" Canterbury Tale starring Sandy Duncan and Kieth Davids, produced by Bagelfish Productions, directed by Daniel Scott Fine, written by Fine and Carla Stockton. Solo voice: Edward Ludvigsen, Cello: An-Lin Bardin. Other haunting vocal samples: "Frottola" (old record) by the Rennaissance composer Josquin Desprez. Created, under extreme for deadline-pressure, at 3:00 AM with the producers both nervously pacing around behind me: oddly- It is one of my more "tonal" and serene works. I really loved creating the ancient velvety atmosphere. Its good to listen to a high quality version with headphones to really let the sound envelope you. Get it HERE
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"Stravetude" for solo piano
(recording of a live performance)
from "Eight Etudes" for solo piano, this etude takes a dash of the Stravinsky Sonata’s opening-gesture-"arrival at C", and goes quite a bit elsewhere with it. Fun, short, jazzy, quirky and technically challanging. Recorded live performance by B’Racz. Get it HERE [SCORE AVAILABLE]
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"RadioHeadSuiteDesign"
(sampled, edited, performed with samplers, and "Live")
I’ve always been intrigued by drum samples (who hasn’t?) and poly-rhythms, etc. I also love to obsess over a rhythm, and push it through digital HELL. ALL the sounds come from one single source. (From a review on Lulu.com from E. Hasham)"...a bit like Aphex Twin but its got a more hard-core minimalist feel to it...I like listening to the slowly evolving process, how it changes ever so gradually...LOTS of DISTORTION- I feel like I’m listening to some insane machine..." Get it HERE
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"POE1" ending section
Chamber work for Clarinet, Cello, two percussion, counter-tenor,
(and optional narrator) based on Poe’s "Ms, found in a bottle" short story.
Was the headline work with the Puppetsweat group at the International Puppet Festival in NYC at LaMama. Vadim Lando, clarinet; Eric Dahlin, cello; Thomas Kozumplik, both percussion; Istvan Peter B’Racz, piano; Lawrence Zukof, countertenor; conducted by Edward Ludvigsen.
[SCORE AND PARTS AVAILABLE]. You may preview the entire work (as well as the other movements) and get it HERE
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"TIN MAN"
starts out "normally enough": acoustic guitar with vocals like bad Neil Young... then, it moves somewhere quite distantly "electronic" and never quite makes it back. I’ve always felt that the creative impulse comes from a song, the urge to sing- to tell a story. I can’t deny it anymore...its something I deeply love to do (if only I wasn’t so damned shy about it). You may preview the entire work at a higher quality and download it HERE
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"X-FIELDS: for large orchestra, first movement"
5 movement work for large orchestra which begins with non-pitch and somewhat of a "soundmass mentality"; change occurs through "cataclysm", where the fabric of the music becomes "too heavy or disturbed" by its own weight. (sampler realization, for obvious reasons). Full Score and Parts available. To read more about, and to hear, the other movements, please go HERE
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...A.B.O.U.T...T.H.E...C.O.M.P.O.S.E.R...
My works range from solo instrumental to large orchestral writing.
I enjoy creating music in the "acoustic" chamber-music traditions of classical music, creating purely electronic music, electronica, as well as music in the pop traditions. My sound is ever-changing, yet there seems to be an inescapable influence of the East...
I love to compose in many different styles and mediums: electronic, avant garde, electronica, orchestral works, sound mass, tonal, atonal, creating soundtracks, ambient environments, scores for film and games, folk-music-influences, new-agey, music of the spheres, hard-core, punk. It is a wonderful compositional challenge. I enjoy taking elements of different styles and filtering them through my own musical tastes and experiences...
Although I don’t consider myself particularly an "academic" composer, there is often some kind of aesthetic/philosophy (or a process/game) that operates as structural glue in my works (so far). Sometimes it is not outwardly obvious. I find that the essence of "composing" is in the overseeing of large-scale blue-prints of works, and delighting in detail. Its an ever-changing process which is what has me "addicted"...
As a performer, I enjoy performing/premiering new works for the keyboard and various electronic elements mixing styles, traditions and influences....
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...E.D.U.C.A.T.I.O.N...
Studied composition, electronic music, and conducting at the Hartt School of Music, piano at the Yale School of Music, Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest Hungary (awarded a Fulbright Grant), composition and piano at the Oberlin Conservatory, Neighborhood Music School (NMS), and the Educational Center for the Arts (ECA).
Taught piano and composition as well as music technology at Central Connecticut State University, Southern CT State University, as well as at ECA and NMS. Currently, teach piano, composition and theory at NMS: record, edit, produce CDs of concerts for Professonal Musicians and audition CDs for students.
Works performed (and have given performances) in many venues throughout the United States, as well as Europe. I especially enjoy working with performers and composers closely, and am the Artistic Director and founder of SOUNDunderGROUND (formerly New Haven Worx), a concert series devoted to new music, composers, performers, poets, and other artists.
How do I pay the bills? teacher, landlord, recordist, and part construction worker... with almost no time to compose of or practice!!! In the few waking moments that are left: I love to play with my cats’ minds with a laser pointer......
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COMPOSITION LIST
RESUME INFO
Other recordings of compositions and performances (complete)
Also, please check out SOUNDunderGROUND’s website and
SOUNDunderGROUND’s MySpace GROUP
very fun stuff...
Thanks for your time!

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 20/11/2005
Band Website: see right below "MAIN SITE"
Band Members: MY MAIN SITE
My personal page on MySpace ,
Even though I'm perfectly happy being a studio mole, or a pen+paper hermit,
I love to work WITH many other folks:

Alphonse Izzo
SOUNDunderGROUND
Thomas Kozumplik (of "The Clogs")
Loop2.4.3
NOSFERATU LIVE SOUNDTRACK
Tom Burnett
John R. Williamson
Gareth Gibson (www.soundskill.com)
various ensembles and chamber groups
"Projects for a New Millennium"(www.projects2k.org)
GOORILLA...
and my beloved Neighborhood Music School
in New Haven, CT!
Influences: ____________________________________________________________ _
MUSIC ____________________________________________________________ _
PUNK!!!! (in EVERY genre), avant garde, serialism, minimalism, electronic music, computer music, electronica, dance music, hard-core, renaissance music, folk music, Hungarian culture, Asian culture, piano music, rock of the 60's and early 70's, improvisation, jazz, aleatoric music, pythagoras, music history, music theory (i.e. "musical scatology"), fibonacci series, golden ratio, structure, apple computers, anime, surreal, dada, impressionism, primitivism, technology, Bela Bartok, Butthole surfers, Beethoven, The Residents, Johannes Brahms, Aphex Twin, Gyorgy Ligeti, Dj Spooky (Paul D. Miller), Morton Feldman, Pixies, John Cage, The Doors, Arvo Part, Pink Floyd, Olivier Messiaen, Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis, Igor Stravinsky, Bill Evans, Edgar Varese, Bjork, RadioHead, Carl Orff, Soul Coughing, Alexander Scriabine, Frank Zappa, Erick Satie, Neil Young, Witold Lutoslawski, Getz+Gilberto, Blondie, Louis Armstrong, Beatles, Ink Spots, Jimmie Hendrix, Anthony Braxton, Steppenwolf, George Crumb, King Crimson, Henryck Gorecki, Grassy Knoll, Kenneth Gaburo, Crystal Method, Krysztof Penderecki, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Poulenc, Arnold Scheonberg, Berg, Anton von Webern, Echo and the Bunnymen, Plasmatics, Severed Heads, Dead Milkmen, Black Flag, FEAR, Talvin Singh, Robert Carl, David Macbride, James Sellars, Steven Gryc, Ingram Marshall, Gesualdo, Allegri, Palestrina, Frescobaldi, Buxtehude, J. S. Bach, Franz Liszt, Schubert, Berlioz, Gustav Mahler, Frederic Chopin, A.+D. Scarlatti, Alfred Schnittke, Dimitri Shostokovich, Robert Nasta, Boulez, Iannis Xenakis, Richard D. James, Cecil Taylor, Morton Subotnick, Wendy Carlos, Paul Hindemith, Phillip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, John Adams, Vladimir Horowitz, Steve Mackey, Burning Sensations, Magyar Gregorianum, Hungarian Culture, Philipino Culture, Thelonius Monk, Balazs Szokolay, Alphonse Izzo, Kubrick, Danny Kaye, Pete Seeger, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Donovan, Steely Dan, Talking Heads, Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Cream, early Scorpions, Muppet Show and Sesame Street, toy piano, Mr. Forbes (who made me believe that I COULD play music at an early age), my first piece- my very first kiss... (this is a very small sampling)
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OTHER INFLUENCES ____________________________________________________________ _
racing, sailing, FIAT X 1/9 (souped up), Ferarri, Mazerati, cooking, reading, films, photography, Apple, gear-lust, biking, tennis, PS2, drawing, ceramics, all other forms of ART!!!, hating the Bush administration, building a nice fire on a crisp New England evening, anything HUNGARIAN, Hungary, different cultures around the world, never stop being a student, NOT being an "expert", a 4-year-old child is our greatest teacher, tibet, climbing, underwater, a good wine and a beautiful sunset... ____________________________________________________________ _
FILM INFLUENCES ____________________________________________________________ _
The Shining, Jan Svenkmejer's "Faust", Nosferatu, Metropolis, ANYTHING Hitchcock, a lot of old-fart b+w films, independant films, "Never cry wolf", Matrix series, Rings (all of 'em), Galaxy Quest (watch it in the Thermian soundtrack...I DARE you), Narnia, Harry Potter, PIXAR, Akira, Cowboy BeBop, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, The Iron Giant, F3, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Spiderman, the LAST Batman, Interview with a Vampire, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Schultz gets the Blues, Ronin, The Italian Job, Magnificent Seven, Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Alien, the Brothers QUAY stuff, Tarkovsky's wacked-out films, (MANY more later) ____________________________________________________________ _
TV INFLUENCES ____________________________________________________________ _
I desperately try NOT watch the damed thing...I'll tape John Stewart, Good Eats, CAR repair and racing, Victory by Design episodes on esoteric Italian autos, and some fun Adult Swim stuff...TV = EVIL...it ROTZ yor brayne ____________________________________________________________ _
BOOK INFLUENCES ____________________________________________________________ _
Currently on my reading shelf: "Sensitive Chaos" Schwenk, Ligeti biography by Toop, Sibelius program manual, Suzuki "Zen Mind Beginner's Mind", "History of Orchestration" Carse, "Film Music" Prenergast, "Anatomy of an Orchestra" Del Mar, "The Orchestra" Peyser, "The Artist's Way" Cameron, "Dreams" Rain, "Materials and Techniques of 20th C Music" Kostka, Wourinen's "Simple Composition", Gauldin's "A Practical Approach to 16th C Counterpoint", "Jitterbug Perfume" Robbins, "Tibetan Book of the Dead" Evans-Wentz, "Essential Rumi" Barks, "The World is Sound: Nada Brahma" Berendt, "Circumscribing the Open Universe" Delio, "Every Tree is the Forest" by Emoke B'Racz ____________________________________________________________ _
HERO INFLUENCES ____________________________________________________________ _
My Mother and Father, and my two darling sisters. My fiancee...my family...They really are my heroes.
Sounds Like: ranges from tonal electronic new-agey to atonal and hard-core...depending on the venue and my moods. You'll probaly hear shades of Ligeti, Bartok, Part, Feldman, Gesualdo, Miles, Bill Evans, folk music, chant and Stravinsky mixed in with Butthole Surfers, AphexTwin, Bjork, DJ Spooky, Beatles, Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk, Singh...and that changes day to day...
here are some quick-links to my works so you can hear them
(just click on the "preview" to hear it:
Papyrus Nugator I:Hungarian Childhood
Goorilla vs. Nosferatu
He was a poet
Izzy the Frog in Lumina Land
"X-Fields" for Orchestra, first movement
The Trip
ElectricIxtalan I
Poe1
Dirge
Sphere1
Forestranger (Part 1)
Izzy Eye-Dantz
IzzyGruve
Pre-Lude
White Rabbit
Tin Man

Bach's Baroque Blender II

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Record Label: http://www.tracelab.com/
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Check out this event: SOUNDunderGROUND

Hosted By: B'Racz/Kozumplik/IzzoWhen: Friday Jun 20, 2008 at 7:30 PMWhere: Neighborhood Music School RECITAL HALL100 Audubon StreetNew Haven, Connecticut|7 06510United StatesDescription: B'Racz/Kozum...
Posted by on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:30:00 GMT

SOUNDunderGROUND presents LOOP243 at NMS JUNE 15th

June, 15 2007 at SOUNDunderGROUND presents LOOP243 LIVE in CONCERT! Neighborhood Music School, New Haven, Connecticut 06510Cost : $10/$7SOUNDunderGROUND and NMS Present: Loop 2.4.3  CD release concer...
Posted by on Mon, 28 May 2007 10:27:00 GMT

NOSFERATU!!!!!!!!!!!

HI folks! Tom Kozumplik, Alphonse Izzo and I got together this year and decided to continue the tradition started by Ed Ludvigsen, Joseph DiPonio and myself years ago in New Haven-so we're going to pe...
Posted by on Thu, 14 Sep 2006 11:15:00 GMT

Memories of Jacob Druckman on painting orchestral textures

Years ago, as a wide-eyed (and self-righteous) undergrad, I was fortunate enough to have been in a class with composer Jacob Druckman telling us about how he works. It was a totally open question a...
Posted by on Thu, 15 Dec 2005 23:23:00 GMT

What is musical elitism?

What is musical elitism? Over the years of teaching young minds how to open up their ears to the wide-world of music, I have noticed several things: 1) there is often a sense of fear and mistrus...
Posted by on Wed, 14 Dec 2005 01:13:00 GMT

!?...detritus...?!

There's a lot to be pissed about these days.Honestly, the USA (a.k.a The American Empire) is a laughing-stock. I'm not laughing...The rest of the world is NOT stupid.Why does everything need to be bla...
Posted by on Mon, 05 Dec 2005 21:23:00 GMT